inuit

Part 3: You know you’ve never been to Iqaluit/Frobisher Bay when…

/ Jane George / 2 Comments

Let’s go on a little tour of downtown Iqaluit, spurred on by what I read in a recent article more about the 1950-era dome-dream for Frobisher Bay, now known as Iqaluit.

This shows some of what was designed for the then-community of Frobisher Bay.

This shows some of what was designed for the then-community of Frobisher Bay.

This would have been the biggest Arctic dome ever — “conceived in a manner similar to the gothic vaulting, but constructed in thin shell concrete with ribs radiating from a central pier, as a large fan vault,” reads the design information for “Frobisher Bay: The Design of Accommodation for a Community of 4,500 People.”

Does this seem incredible?

Well,  I am ready to take you to some equally fantastic buildings. But these you can see today in Iqaluit, Nunavut’s capital city whose population is now likely nearing 8,000.

The place to start our tour lies right in the heart of Iqaluit, at the Four Corners crossroads of Queen Elizabeth Way and the Federal Rd. with Mivvik St. and Niaqunngusiaq Rd. It’s a location which, over the past few years, has morphed into a strikingly unattractive place where southern architects’ fancies, or blunders, are still played out.

I can’t help thinking that when the Arctic Council’s top ministers for its eight circumpolar nation members and their entourages pour into Iqaluit at the end of April, they will be whisked from the airport through this — but maybe they can keep their eyes closed and think about climate change.

Heads above all those new structures is the Qamutiq building, which an Inuk friend of mine calls “Noah’s Ark” due to its shape.

The Noah's Ark of Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

The Noah’s Ark of Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

But you may note there are many things to reflect on here with this building:

• its shape — why the ultra-high roof? and why red?

• the name — the huge syllabics are correct, but the Roman orthography is wrong and should be “qamutik.”

You can't miss the misspelling even at night. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

You can’t miss the misspelling even at night. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

• the location — why not hide this building somewhere instead of putting it in the centre of town where the late domed restaurant, the Kamotiq (also a misspelling), once stood? What’s more, you can see the “Qamutiq” from all over town because of its relatively enormous height.

Iqaluit's Kamotiq Inn, now demolished. (PHOTO/NUNATSIAQ NEWS)

Iqaluit’s Kamotiq Inn, now demolished. (PHOTO/NUNATSIAQ NEWS)

Next door to the Qamutiq stands another brand-new and equally unappealing building called the Qilaut, or drum in Inuktitut, which also features some decorations as well weird multi-coloured wings. Why? That’s all I’d like to know.

Iqaluit's Qilaut building and its topsy-turvy annex, March 2015. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Iqaluit’s Qilaut building and its topsy-turvy wings, March 2015. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Kitty-corner to these two buildings lies the nondescript Igluvut building where the T-1 building, which used to house the Nunatsiaq News office, once stood.

Here you can’t miss the giant-sized carving, unveiled in 2013 in honour of the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement on July 9, 1993. The commissioning this monument, a collaboration of carvers from Nunavut’s three regions — may have seemed like a good idea at the time. But the end result done by three talented carvers, looks like an Arctic nightmare  — a mish-mash of every polar animal and symbol of Inuit culture.

From every angle there's something new on this huge carving about the Igluvut building in Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

From every angle there’s something new on this huge carving in front of the Igluvut building in Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Nearby stands the Hotel Arctic, featuring colours best described as mustard and ketchup, and a strange igloo-dome appendage on top. Can you tell me what this is? Enough said.

Here at the Four Corners intersection lies the red and mustard-coloured Hotel Arctic with its dome-ish decorated roof. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Here at the Four Corners intersection lies the red and mustard-coloured Hotel Arctic with its dome-ish decorated roof. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Across the street, the low-key, boxy Parnaivik building, whose parking lot lies on the site of Iqaluit’s long-gone mini-golf course.

If you head down the street, looking for other sights, you’ll wonder at the boarded-up, but still operating hotel, bar and restaurant, the Navigator Inn.

Not a lot of natural light these days at the Navigator in Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

Not a lot of natural light these days at the Navigator in Iqaluit. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

I’ll let you decide if you dare to venture inside. A comment on Trip Advisor from a few years ago might make you think twice about this: “Can’t believe that they call this a hotel. The front door locks at 11 and there is nobody running this zoo until the next morning… I’ve been here for 4 nights now and the chambermaid hasn’t been to my room once. Its probably for the better as I have heard of several things walking out of peoples rooms.”

Nearby you can see the Iqaluit of yesterday and today: in the foreground to the right the sole remaining Butler building, former military accomodation from Frobisher Bay’s Cold War beginnings that last served as government staff housing, in the foreground, and, at the end of the street, the Qamutiq.

Looking down this street you travel through time, from the Butler building of the early 1960s to the Qamutiq of today,

Looking down this street you travel through time, from the Butler building of the early 1960s to the Qamutiq of today. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

And that’s enough for today’s tour of Iqaluit.

Did you read my first posts about Iqaluit?

Part 2: You know you’ve never been to Iqaluit/Frobisher Bay when…

You know you’ve never been to Iqaluit/Frobisher Bay when…

And are you curious about the Canadian Arctic of the 1990s?

You will want to read my “Like an iceberg” series of blog posts. You can find all the links here.

Bye-bye to Cambridge Bay, NU

/ Jane George / Leave a comment

DSCN9928When I arrived in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, this past September, I caught the last few warm, dry days of this year. And there were lots of snow buntings to make things lively.

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The view from my friends’ house — where I would end up spending nearly two months, thanks to their incredible hospitality — included a view over to Mt. Pelly, about 20 kilometres away to the east.10486129_10203881751476252_362758816693141826_n

During those first days of this year’s visit to Cambridge Bay, I took many long walks — and I visited with my many friends in the western Nunavut town of 1,700.

But I couldn’t help tracking and writing stories, first for this blog, and then, finally again, for Nunatsiaq News, as I returned to work.

There was no boredom ever for me during my visit, even on weekends.

So, what should you do if you’re lucky enough to visit Cambridge Bay — located a couple of hours by air north from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories?10636227_10203881777476902_4135097640546042607_n

Here are some ideas:

• If you are around when a barge comes in, go down and watch everything be offloaded and stacked up on shore.10486129_10203881751356249_1883627419365031161_n

• Keep an eye on what’s happening at the dock — that’s where I met the folks from the ocean observatory and the yacht, the Latitude. Boats and ships travelling the Northwest Passage are always docked there in August and September.10513324_10203912169676688_4055274122942086626_n

• Walk to the airport and back. Have an expresso or latte at the Arctic Closet café at the airport.

On the return trip you’ll get a great view of Cambridge Bay with Mt. Pelly in the distance.10612861_10203901284724571_7197797717356445544_n

And you can check out the municipal golf course, called “Many Pebbles.”

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You can also get a view over to the Cam Main North Warning site (what do they do there anyway?)IMG_0507

• Head over to the plateau on the way to Mt. Pelly to see what’s happening at the construction site of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, set to open in 2017.

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After that, continue on and peek into the dump — it’s probably Nunavut’s best landfill, but still some of the trash is whipped around by the wind and most of what can’t be reused locally is reduced by open burning.DSCN9893

Further on you’ll find cabins as well as the cemeteries, old and new.DSC04110

Then, if you cross the bridge to your right, you’ll walk past the site of the old town site as well as a new park commemorating residential school students — and get a great view of the town beyond.DSCN9677

A little further on yet, you’ll arrive at the site of the Maud, Roald Amundsen’s ship, which may not be there too long if Norwegians are successful in 2015 in bringing the Maud back to Norway.DSCN9682

Down the road, there’s the newly renovated stone church built by Catholic missionaries, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in September 2014.

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And close by is the Eagle, which ended up on shore there in 1954, when missionary Father  André Steinmann bought the ship — but then was transferred back east.

Near to that, you might also still find some remnants of the Loran tower, erected in 1947, to be a navigational beacon for aircraft. Many of the community’s first houses were built using its plywood shipping crates. The Loran was torn down in 2014.DSCN9870

That’s a bit of a hike but you can always wave people down for lifts back to town!

• Walk around Cambridge Bay, check out the Northern and Co-op stores and see how much it costs to eat. And look at the bulletin boards to see what’s going on. There’s always some meeting or activity.IMG_0589

• Visit the new Kitikmeot Inuit Association building.

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• Go to the May Hakongak Library and cultural centre: check out the cultural displays and look for some of the many Arctic-related books I gave to the library in 2011.1385026_10204200137915714_2356068575569011207_n

Elders, who work in the back on projects, put some of their handiwork for sale, too.

• Visit the Arctic Coast visitors centre — you can find more pamphlets there on what to do.

• Go to the Elks club early Friday evening and find someone to sign you in — you’ll make new friends and may be able to hang on to a drink token as a souvenir.

You use a drink token like this one at the Elks' bar. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

• Go to Sunday service (in English and Inuinnaqtun) at St. George’s Anglican Church — seeing the stained glass windows are worth going to see and you’ll be welcomed warmly.10590417_10203887713345295_8169413709948011638_n

• Get up early and watch the sun rise.

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• Don’t miss any of the sunsets (but to see them you’ll have to go outside the days of 24-hour sunlight and darkness.) They’re all different.

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• Eat lots of Arctic char.

• Try to make friends with people who have vehicles and cabins — they’ll be able to navigate the bumpy roads and take you to see Mt. Pelly or Gravel Pit and beyond. Maybe you’ll see a muskox along the way.DSC04116

And you won’t want to miss a visit to Mt. Pelly.

From every angle, and particularly at sunset, when it catches the last rays, this flat esker of a mountain looks great.10696390_10204115681524357_5328699515534850929_n

• Arrive with good shoes, rubber boots and boots with spikes for when the roads freeze up and get slippery.

When I left Cambridge Bay in the end of October 2014, everything already looked different: the days were shrinking,  temperatures often dropped into the minus 30 Cs with wind and my middle-weight parka was too light. And I was busier, too, back to work, covering back-to-back meetings, with less time to enjoy the scenery.

The view looked different from the front porch, too. But I was rewarded with amazing sights, including this pink-lit scene of ice crystals in the air at sunset as I walked back after work. Like heaven.

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Can’t wait to get back.

Now that I am back at work, you won’t find as many new blog entries.

But if you missed previous posts, including the “Like an Iceberg” series, take a look here:

Positive attitude key to suicide prevention: Inupiaq TV star

CamBay ocean observatory stimulates local interest

My Cambridge Bay weekend

Nunavut, still Canada’s youngest, fastest growing jurisdiction: StatsCan

A makeover for CamBay’s ocean observatory

Canada ignores Arctic infrastructure: veteran ice pilot

New roof, new life for CamBay’s old stone church

Two Arctic ships, two explorers: Franklin and Amundsen

Today, Arctic explorers take cruise ships

And from the “Like an Iceberg” series:

Like an iceberg: on being a journalist in the Arctic

Like an iceberg, 1991…cont.

Like an iceberg, 1991…more

Like an iceberg, 1992, “Shots in the dark” 

Like an iceberg, 1992, “Sad stories”

Like an iceberg, 1993, “Learning the language of the snows”

Like an iceberg, 1993 cont., “Spring”

Like an iceberg, 1993 cont., “Chesterfield Inlet”

Like an iceberg, 1993 cont., more “Chesterfield Inlet”

Like an iceberg, 1994: “Seals and more”

Like an iceberg, 1994, cont., “No news is good news”

Like an iceberg, 1994 cont., more “No news is good news”

Like an iceberg, 1994 cont., “A place with four names”

Like an iceberg, 1995, “More sad stories”

Like an iceberg, 1995 cont., “No place like Nome”

Like an iceberg, 1995 cont., “Greenland”

Like an iceberg, 1995, cont. “Secrets”

Like an iceberg, 1996, “Hard Lessons”

Like an iceberg, 1996 cont., “Working together”

Like an iceberg, 1996 cont., “At the edge of the world”

Like an iceberg, 1996, more “At the edge of the world”

Like an iceberg, 1996, cont. “Choices” 

Like an iceberg, 1997, “Qaggiq”

Like an iceberg, 1997, more “Qaggiq”

Like an iceberg, 1997, “Qaggiq” cont.

Like an iceberg, 1997 cont., “Qaggiq and hockey”

Like an iceberg, 1997 cont., “Brain surgery in POV”

Like an iceberg, 1997 cont.: “Masks on an island”

Like an iceberg, 1997 cont., “Abusers on the pulpit”

Like an iceberg, 1998, “Bearing gifts”

Like an iceberg, 1998 cont., “At the top of the world”

Like an iceberg, 1998 cont., “A bad week” 

Like an iceberg, 1998 cont.: more from “A bad week”

Like an iceberg, 1998 cont., “Memories”

Like an iceberg, 1999, “The avalanche”

Like an iceberg, 1999 cont., “An exorcism, followed by a penis cutting”

Like an iceberg, 1999 cont., more on “the Avalanche”

Like an iceberg, 1999 cont., “Robins in the Arctic”

Like an iceberg, 1999 cont., “Fossil hunting”

Like an iceberg, 1999 cont., “Where forests grew” 

Like an iceberg, 1999 cont.,”And then there was Nunavut”

Like an iceberg … the end